Rawalpindi, September 14, 2026: The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) has welcomed the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) decision to maintain the policy rate at 11.5 percent, describing it as a prudent step in view of the prevailing domestic and global economic conditions.
RCCI President Usman Shaukat said the decision was appropriate given renewed global inflationary pressures and ongoing economic uncertainties. He particularly highlighted the impact of the conflict in the Middle East involving Iran, which has contributed to higher international energy and commodity prices.
As a net importer of fuel, Pakistan remains vulnerable to such external shocks, he noted.
“In the current environment, maintaining a stable monetary policy stance is important to preserve the economic stability achieved through considerable efforts over the past two years,” Shaukat said.
However, the RCCI president emphasized that economic stability must ultimately translate into stronger business activity, investment and employment. He said the business community has already endured a prolonged period of high borrowing costs, making access to affordable credit an important concern for businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Shaukat said the Monetary Policy Committee would need to maintain a careful balance between containing inflation and creating room for investment and economic expansion.
He added that, as external pressures ease and the inflation outlook improves, a gradual reduction in the policy rate would be essential to revive industrial activity, improve access to credit for SMEs and strengthen export growth.
The RCCI president said the Chamber would continue to raise the concerns and challenges faced by the business community with the State Bank and the government’s economic policymakers.
He expressed hope that once inflationary and external pressures become manageable, a calibrated easing of monetary policy would be initiated to support private-sector investment, industrial growth and sustainable economic expansion.
